Copyright irishmirror
Munster got the better of Connacht, 17-15, at Thomond Park, and while it was a deserved win in the face of not hitting the heights of last week, it still needed the Reds to come from behind as they trailed 12-15 at half-time. A win that adds to the southern province's sprint start, their fifth from five outings and which sees them occupying second place in the table, albeit equal on 23 points, behind Stormers. Given those two sides meet in the next set of URC games, Round Six, their Saturday night November 29th clash at Thomond Park is surely one of the hottest sporting tickets of the year. “The one thing that wasn’t missing today was effort," said new boss Clayton McMillan after the win over Connacht. "And after last week, when you play those sorts of games, a lot of the emotion, a huge amount of energy spent, it can be tough to back up the following week, and we acknowledged that early. “I thought the coaching staff and the players really responded well to the challenge during the week. We parked the euphoria of the previous week and got on with the business, knowing that Connacht were going to come here and throw the kitchen sink at us and that’s what we got. “So really pleasing and I could sense through the warm-up that we were there mentally and the effort was there. We weren’t gifted a lot, and we had to work for everything, but we got there.” Thus Saturday night's tussle hinged on the only second-half score, Man of the Match Alax Nankivell putting Jack O'Donoghue in for an unconverted try in the 67th minute - part of yet another eye-catching game from the Waterford-born 31-year-old. O'Donoghue has been capped twice, against Canada 2016 and Japan 2017, and while he has recently suggested international rugby has now bypassed him there is little doubt five games into the 2025/26 season, McMillan has the magic beans the back-row is thriving on. There was also interest in Stuart Lancaster putting Paul Boyle in for a first game in the no. 7 shirt - he had never started a professional game there before - with the knock-on suggestion there had been a conversation with Andy Farrell about the lack of coverage for Josh van der Flier at the higher level. This, in turn, could allow Sean Jansen concentrate on no8, a player who was a star performer for Ireland A against England in Bristol last February - carrying for more metres than any other Irish player in atrocious conditions in a match which wasn't televised. Boyle bagged one of the Westerners three tries and if there is another 10/15 percent to come from him as an open-side flanker Lancaster - whose singular overarching expertise is the no7 role - may have made a very, very interesting call. “You can’t underestimate how tough that was,” said Munster skipper O’Donoghue afterwards. “We started the game really well and probably fell into a bit of complacency. “In fairness to Connacht, they threw everything at us, but our defence was awesome. We came away with the four points, so absolutely we will take it. We are delighted.” Elsewhere there was, by the way, a performance worthy of 'instant' international recognition and it came from Robert Baloucoune for Ulster against Lions in Johannesburg. Ulster lost 49-31 to Lions, swamped in the last quarter at altitude where they were literally out on the feet and couldn't contain tackles, in a 12-try thriller. He's big, he's quick, he looks back to full fitness for the first time in 18 months and he bagged a sixth, 40th and 53rd minute hat-trick that helped keep Ulster in the game, three points adrift for instance with 13 minutes to play. "It's a difficult one to take, we're in that game for 55, 60 minutes and let it get away from us in the end," said Ulster boss Richie Murphy. "Over the course of the game, our error count was probably too high and we just invited the Lions into the game. "Scrum dominance from them put us under a lot of pressure, but it's a massive effort from the players in a very tough situation, 28 or 29 degrees at altitude, it's not an easy place to be." Baloucoune has been inspirational: "Incredible. Having Rob back is fantastic. He got through another full game, which is exciting for us, and long may that fitness level continue. "We have an embarrassment of riches in the back three. Zac Ward has been on fire, Werner Kok has been really good and Mikey Lowry's flying. "I thought both Bryn Ward and Joe Hopes (making debuts) put in a big shift. There's going to be little things there that we'll review and give them some feedback. It's good to see them both come through the game and contribute so much."
